Have you tried the ‘50% off diet’? Thrifty medical student plans his meals based on half-price buys at the supermarket – and it saves him HUNDREDS on groceries
- A student has revealed the plan that saves him hundreds at the supermarket
- The thrifty medic said he only buys meat that is marked ‘50% off’ to save cash
- Many speculated about when the supermarkets slash the price of various food
- A store manager said there are often three markdowns during a normal day
A thrifty medical student has revealed the plan that sees him save hundreds of dollars at the supermarket.
Posting on Facebook, the student Liam Mason said he and his partner are ‘on this new diet, that we have termed “the 50% off diet”.
‘Our meal plans for the week are dictated by whatever we can find for 50% of better in Woolies/Coles. And freeze whatever we can’t eat that week!,’ Liam posted.
A thrifty medical student has revealed the plan that sees him save hundreds of dollars at the supermarket every week (pictured: some of his recent bargains)
Liam said the plan has been hugely successful since they adopted it, and the couple have saved themselves hundreds of dollars on groceries.
‘If you’re paying full price for meat, you’re doing it wrong,’ he said.
‘Is anyone else on the 50% off diet? My proudest purchase this week is the beef roast reduced from $17 down to $3 (80 per cent off).
‘I don’t even like beef roast, but for $3, I love it!’
‘Our meal plans for the week are dictated by whatever we can find for 50% of better in Woolies/Coles. And freeze whatever we can’t eat that week!,’ Liam wrote (pictured)
Thousands of shoppers were impressed with the medical student’s budget trick, which this week saw him get his hands on seven beef sausages for just $3.82, four chicken leg steaks for $1.47 and beef mince for $5.40.
Liam also bought beef for $3.43, chicken enchiladas for $4.05, pork sausages for $3.15 and a reduced salad for $2.29.
And he’s not the only one relying on budget buys at the supermarket.
Some said they call the ‘50% off diet’ the ‘mortgage diet’, while others said even their kids are on board with the idea.
‘Our four-year-old knows this all too well – if it does not have a yellow or red tag, it just simply cannot be purchased,’ one said.
‘My entire freezer is full of meat with pretty orange stickers. We’re on the Orange sticker diet too,’ another mum said.
Some asked questions as to when stores typically reduce the price of meat, with many saying that supermarkets often do markdowns three times per day (stock image)
Some asked questions as to when stores typically reduce the price of meat.
‘Our local Woolies does meat [in the ]middle of the day,’ one shopper said. ‘But it’s a three hour window. They don’t like to do it at the same time, like 12-3 every single day.’
Another said they’ve found it’s often a Thursday when things are reduced.
‘I’ve trained my kids to find the deals,’ wrote another.
‘I pay them a treat for finding 10+ products for 50 per cent off. Saves me money, as they are so focused on the prize.’
While there is no specific time that all Woolworths and Coles outlets put their meat on special, that hasn’t stopped thousands from debating it up and down the country.
Writing on parenting website Stay At Home Mum, one ‘major supermarket chain department manager’ said: ‘Markdowns are done every day as necessary.
‘First one will be done early, normally before 9. If not sold, then another one happens around 2pm,’ they said.
‘The third one is later in the day – 5ish. Most things don’t make the second or third markdown. It’s done on percentages – 20, 40 and 60 per cent progressively throughout the day.’
The manager concluded: ‘There is no set day for markdowns as products go out of date constantly’.
Markdowns are at each and every supermarket’s discretion.